Bahamian Jonquel 'JJ' Jones and the New York Liberty have pretty much handled Jones' old team, the Connecticut Sun, all year, but they got a rude awakening yesterday.
The playoffs is a different kettle of fish, and the Sun is the team that made all the plays when they needed to yesterday while the regular season record-setting Liberty folded. The Liberty, which won a franchise record 32 games in the regular season, couldn't handle the pressure yesterday. They fell convincingly, 78-63, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, dropping the opening game of their Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) best-of-five semifinal series.
With the win, the Sun have certainly pulled off one of the most shocking results of the playoffs thus far, particularly after dropping all four of their regular season games to Jones and the Liberty. The Liberty are the second seeded team in the playoffs while the Sun are third.
Jones had a respectable game with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, but as a team, the Liberty struggled offensively, particularly in the fourth quarter. They also couldn't put a lid on DeWanna Bonner when they needed to.
The Sun played suffocating defense when they needed to as the Liberty shot just 3-for-22 from the floor in the fourth quarter, scoring just eight points. In the second half, the Liberty were a woeful 8-for-37 from the field. Credit must be given to the Sun's defense which held the Liberty to a season-low 63 points.
Bonner led the way with 20 points for the Sun, and added seven rebounds and three assists. Rebecca Allen, who was traded from the Liberty to the Sun as part of the Jones' deal, shot 7-for-9 from the floor, including going 4-for-6 from distance. She had 18 points and seven rebounds. Tiffany Hayes and Natisha Hiedeman dropped in 12 points apiece for the Sun.
Breanna Stewart had 19 points for the Liberty, but shot just 7-for-25 from the field and was 0-for-8 from deep. Jones dropped in 14 on 5-for-8 shooting and Sabrina Ionescu added 12 on 4-for-14 shooting, all four coming from three-point land.
Jones 14 points and 11 rebounds was the 15th time that she's had a double-double this season but the first time the Liberty lost in one of those efforts.
The Liberty trailed 25-21 after the first quarter but surged ahead 40-37 at the half. The Sun scored the first nine points of the third quarter and never looked back. They went on a 16-2 scoring run to open the third and led 65-55 at the end of three. Bonner scored the first five points of the fourth to put the Sun up 70-55. They were ahead by as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter, coasting to the easy win.
The two teams will play each other in Brooklyn again on Tuesday, before the series shifts to Uncasville, Connecticut.
The Sun are aiming to get back to the finals for a second straight year. They lost to the Las Vegas Aces in four games last year.
After her much proclaimed trade to the Liberty in the offseason, Jones is trying to lead her new team to their first WNBA Finals appearance since the early 2000s. Neither team has won a WNBA title.
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